St. Valentine's Day

Why do we celebrate St. Valentine's Day with declarations of love?  Who was St. Valentine anyway?  (Does anyone care who he really was anymore?)

Apparently, we know very little factually about what may be among the most famous of the officially recognized saints.  Instead, we have several hagiographies (biographies of saints - sometimes considered unreliable) about him.

Almost all the hagiographies agree that he died because he refused to renounce his belief in the Christian faith - in other words, that he died as a martyr, around 273, on February 14th.

He is associated with lovers because according to at least one hagiographa, as a priest (or a bishop) he

married Christians (in secret), though that was illegal at that time (and he also otherwise helped Christians - also illegal at that time.)  This is somewhat unsure, since many others with the name of Valentinus are also considered saints, and their hagiographies differ.

Regardless, Pope Galius I - named Valentine a Saint in 496, though he impliedly admitted not much was actually known about him.  So in 1969, Valentine was removed from the official Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for veneration, though still venerated locally, as well as by the Anglicans and Lutherans (as well as by the Eastern Orthodox in June).

Many other legends about Saint Valentine abound.  While I doubt they will outdo the amount of chocolates, flowers, and other expressions of love - let us rejoice one day a year is dedicated to love between men and women (and even between boys and girls).